LRC - Laboratory of Radiochemistry

The Laboratory of Radiochemistry (LRC) focuses on fundamental research and on education in the field of radiochemistry. The topics studied within LRC cover a wide and diverse range of radiochemical research, including studies on the chemistry of heavy elements, harvesting exotic radionuclides from irradiated accelerator components for use in fundamental research, development of innovative radiopharmaceuticals and studying the chemical behaviour of radionuclides in liquid metals proposed as target material or coolant in future nuclear facilities.
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Current News from LRC

One of the long-lasting unsolved problems in Nuclear Astrophysics is the so-called "Cosmological Li Problem", i.e. the large discrepancy between the primordial 7Li abundance predicted by models of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the one inferred from astronomical observation. The study of the production/destruction rates of the radioactive precursor 7Be is one of the clues for solving this problem. Scientists from PSI were able to manufacture two highly radioactive 7Be-targets for the measurement of the 7Be(n,α) cross section at n_TOF CERN. The activity was extracted from the cooling water of the neutron spallation source SINQ. As a result of the experiment, the investigated reaction could be ruled out as responsible for the problem. The innovative work on isotope and target production as well as the new measurement techniques specifically developed for this kind of experiments make further investigations on this "hot topic" feasible. The work has been published in Physical Review Letters and has been selected for the Editor’s Suggestion of the corresponding issue.

PSI radiochemists now finished the radiochemical analysis of the residue nuclei production in the Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) of the MEGAPIE target. Twenty – mostly safety-relevant – radionuclides could be identified and quantified. Comparisons with theoretical predictions show acceptable agreement in most cases, but also considerable discrepancies for some selected radionuclides. Moreover, the scientists learned that noble elements like Gold, Silver, Mercury or Rhodium are homogeneously distributed in the bulk LBE, while others, sensitive to reduction/oxidation (Lanthanides, Iodine, Chlorine), tend to accumulate at exposed positions like vessel walls and free surfaces. These results will help to improve models and codes for predictions and, thus, will improve the safety of existing and future facilities.

Researchers at the PSI have for the first time used a cyclotron to produce the radionuclide scandium-44 in a quantity and concentration as needed for medical treatment. With that, they have achieved the first precondition for scandium-44 to be used one day for medical tests in hospitals.

At the PSI, the Heavy Elements Research Group explores the exotic, unstable atoms at the end of the periodic table of elements. The dream: to discover one day the island of stability that could exist beyond the elements charted so far on the chemists' map.

The Annual Reports contain accounts of ongoing scientific research and provide an overview of the variety of topics investigated in our laboratory. Until 2015, they comprise results achieved within the former Laboratory for Radio- and Environmental Chemistry (LCH).